One of the predominant issues in medicine is the repair of bone defects created by disease, malformation, or trauma. Such bone defects are currently treated through the surgical implantation of artificial or biological grafts with the purpose of regenerating and growing new bone to fill the void. To date, the implantation of allografts and autografts are the most successful treatments; however, their use is limited by potential health risks.
To replace the use of autografts and allografts, a technology must be developed that provides the mechanical stability necessary for restoring structure and function while enabling the integration of new bone tissue. The benefits of engineered devices over current technologies (i.e. autografts and allografts) are reduced risk of disease transmission, unlimited source of materials, and elimination of donor site morbidity. Thus far, biodegradable polymer and ceramic scaffolds have garnered the most attention for repair of bone defect; however, scaffolds made from carbon are another viable option. In most cases, biodegradable scaffolds do not provide the necessary mechanical support to stabilize large defect sites and sustain bone repair over lengthy periods of time. Additionally, the less than ideal strengths of biodegradable scaffolds limit their use to small defects.
The present invention relates to the utilization of porous graphite foams externally reinforced with carbon fiber as self-supporting, integrative scaffolds for the repair and reconstruction of bone defects. The known strengths of various carbon forms coupled with the inertness of carbon make carbon fiber reinforced carbon foams excellent candidates as devices for repairing and reconstructing bone defect. Non-biodegradable carbon fiber reinforced carbon foams provide mechanical support for the duration of new bone development and defect repair. The highly porous interior structure of the foam supports and promotes the viability of osteoblasts, bone producing cells, while maintaining the pore channel structure and enabling the long term delivery of natural biomolecules and nutrients throughout the structure. Additionally, mounting the carbon foam directly to the defect site and neighboring regions of bone tissue in many application s has the potential to obviate the need for load-sharing devices currently used in bone defect repair.